The Illinois Gaming Board reported traditional sports wagering handle of $875.4 million for February on Thursday, likely reclaiming the No. 2 spot nationally behind New York.
The Land of Lincoln wrested the runner-up ranking back from Ohio, which cleared $1.1 billion handle in its January launch. That figure, though, was aided by nearly $320 million in promotional credits, and that total sharply declined across the Buckeye State in February to $59.1 million as part of its $639.8 million overall handle.
It was the first month Illinois finished second since last August, as it was a close No. 3 to New Jersey throughout the final quarter of 2022. Arizona is the only state yet to report figures for February, but even with hosting the Super Bowl, it does not seem likely it surpassed its monthly handle record of $691 million set in March 2022, let alone was able to reach Illinois’ handle.
Illinois also became the fifth state — along with New Jersey, Nevada, New York, and Pennsylvania — to surpass $20 billion handle in the post-PASPA era and temporarily moved into the No. 4 spot all-time pending Pennsylvania’s March report next week. Illinois’ February handle was down 18.2% from January, as it ended a four-month run of $1 billion-plus handles, but it was also 28.9% higher compared to February 2022.